Friday, March 16, 2012

Clint Faught, the THF’s educational program manager, talked during the keystone presentation about how American culture has evolved to embrace steroid-fueled body types. The Batman of the ’60s TV show, he explained, looks nothing like the ripped superhero of today’s comics and cartoons.

...McNamee said two MLB general managers once told him, “We don’t care what they (players) take as long as it doesn’t come back to us.” While he didn’t identify the GMs during Thursday’s presentation, he told congressional investigators in 2008 that the executives were Yankee general manager Brian Cashman and former Toronto GM Gord Ash, now an assistant general manager with the Milwaukee Brewers. He said Thursday that the same attitude is pervasive in youth sports.

McNamee said schools should test their athletes’ urine for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, although he later acknowledged the cost could be prohibitive. He also said that schools should offer classes that address the ethical questions raised by performance-enhancing drugs: Is it OK to risk long-term health for short-term goals? Is it OK to use PEDs if your competitors use them?

“Steroids are the elephant in the room,” McNamee said. “Nobody wants to talk about them.”

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McNamee is absolutely right that steroids are a problem even in high school sports. I was in high school from 1999-2003, and I know we had football players that were on steroids, and our football team wasn't even a big deal and they were in fact quite terrible. And we were in Massachusetts, not exactly a hotbed for people to be hardcore about high school football. Am I supposed to believe that high school football in places like Texas isn't full of players taking HGH and steroids?

Am I supposed to believe that high school football in places like Texas isn't full of players taking HGH and steroids?

I believe on BTF you're supposed to believe that those players are taking HGH and steroids, and in the case of steroids it's a good thing because it allows them to achieve their potential, and in the case of HGH it doesn't matter because HGH has no effect on the human body.

Am I supposed to believe that high school football in places like Texas isn't full of players taking HGH and steroids?

Texas had the broadest prep steroids testing program in the country, but it gets criticized for its high cost relative to the few positive test results. News reports indicate that 20 confirmed steroids cases have been detected out of 50,000 tests since the inception of the program. The steroids testing program has been scaled back, as a result.

McNamee is absolutely right that steroids are a problem even in high school sports. I was in high school from 1999-2003, and I know we had football players that were on steroids, and our football team wasn't even a big deal and they were in fact quite terrible. And we were in Massachusetts, not exactly a hotbed for people to be hardcore about high school football. Am I supposed to believe that high school football in places like Texas isn't full of players taking HGH and steroids?

This, except replace Massachusetts with New Jersey.

EDIT: I should note that there were also a not-insignificant number of kids who took hGH so they could grow taller. One of my best friends grew to 5'9 1/2" without any assistance while his two younger brothers (both of whom projected to be smaller than him) were treated with hGH and grew to be 6' and 6'3" respectively.*

*The youngest brother also throws 90+, but he has no idea of where it's going. He has absolutely no qualms about chucking it max effort during a game of catch, though.

Yeah. My older bro played for his High School football team from 1992-1994 and told me that he knew of several players who were roiding. Maybe Utah makes a bigger deal of high school and college football than Massachusetts or New Jersey, but still, his school team was terrible. It's not like they were competing for state championships or college scholarships or anything.

McNamee is absolutely right that steroids are a problem even in high school sports. I was in high school from 1999-2003, and I know we had football players that were on steroids, and our football team wasn't even a big deal and they were in fact quite terrible. And we were in Massachusetts, not exactly a hotbed for people to be hardcore about high school football. Am I supposed to believe that high school football in places like Texas isn't full of players taking HGH and steroids?

I believe on BTF you're supposed to believe that those players are taking HGH and steroids, and in the case of steroids it's a good thing because it allows them to achieve their potential, and in the case of HGH it doesn't matter because HGH has no effect on the human body.